June 2010
Well the sad day finally arrived when we had to say goodbye to our breeding stock, as the truck rolled up to take our sows and boar to their new home at Belle Valley Berkshires near Morinville. It was an emotional moment as we loaded our girls (an Spotty the boar) into the trailer, followed by moments of panic - what were we doing? However sacrifices must be made and we have to accept that we cannot do everything on our own. Progress must be made, and our partnership with Ron and Karen Sobey of Belle Valley Berkshires will enable us to grow our supply of Berkshires beyond our current capacity. Hopefully before too long you will see Irvings Berkshire products available on more restaurant menu's and in speciality retail stores.
 

March 2010
Well Spring seems to be on its way - the snow is disappearing fast. Lady had her piglets at the start of the month - she decided to wait until we were away on vacation before having them - needless to say the `pig babysitter`had quite a shock when they arrived. Due to the mild weather we were able to put another batch of growing pigs outside - they just love making a mess in the dirt!  We have 3 more sows due to give birth over the next couple of months - so there will be lots of little ones running around this summer. It is always a pleasure to see them enjoying the freedom of space and fresh air. 

We plan to make some changes this year regarding the pigs - with time at a premium we are considering letting someone else do the breeding and some of the growing for us. We are hoping to bring in a like minded partner to take on this ever expanding task - this way we can ensure that the job is done properly and we are allowed more time to devote to the growth of our cutting and processing business. The pigs won`t disappear completely - we just have to do things differently if we want to make Berkshire Pork the meat of choice, not only for the consumer, but also for our processed products.
 

January 2010
Winter has arrived since we last wrote in the diary - snow is thick on the ground, and most of our pigs are now inside. We decided to keep two gilts from our batch of summer 'meat' pigs - and are happy that we have two very nice Berkshires from which we plan to breed as soon as they are big enough. Over the last year we 'lost' 2 or our gilts, and to be able to keep up with demand for the meat, we must have more sows breeding. Our next litter will be from 'Lady' and will be due in March 2010 sometime.

We kept the 2 litters of August born piglets outside - we built them a cosy shelter from large round bales, and gave it a roof. The pigs love it, and have managed to bury under the bales to make a very cosy house. We can see the pasture (snow) from our house, and often see the pigs running around playing in the snow - they love the fresh air. We also can't believe how quickly they are growing - they usually grow more slowly in the cold months, but these don't seem to have been affected. They should be ready for butcher in a few weeks time.

October 2009
We were hoping to finish summer farmers' markets and finally get some time to complete some fall projects before Winter sets in - but it seems to have beat us to it. I think the weekend is going to be more seasonal again, so we will have to get down to some hard work outside and finish those jobs before it turns cold and snowy again. 

The 2 litters of piglets were weaned about six weeks ago - and have just grown so much. We have kept them inside for a while to make sure they were eating properly, and to be able to interact with them in close quarters - this makes them much calmer and easier to handle. The 2 mom's have been visiting with Spotty the boar again, and hopefully are now pregnant. Time will tell. 

Princess our first ever sow, and one of our favourites, has had her 3rd litter of piglets a week ago. She gave birth to 11 piglets last Thursday morning. All were doing well, but unfortunately 4 of them have since died - it was a case of being squashed by mom. This is a hazard of keeping the sows in straw beds rather than crates, but we feel it is still the most natural thing to do, and just have to deal with the consequences. Princess is a good mother, and does her best not to lie on her babies, but there are so many of them, and they are so small compared to her huge size. The remaining 7 are doing well now, and have really grown in a week. They are starting to get into mischief.

Our group of 28 growing pigs are gradually getting less - some of them have reached their target 200lbs liveweight, which for them is not good news! We should have them all in the freezer before Christmas, which is good news for the customers that have purchased them.

Blackie, our youngest sow, is supposed to be due to give birth in about 2 weeks. We look forward to that! It is always a pleasure to have young piglets, and our sows are all quiet and happy for us to touch their babies, which is nice. Our children have fun playing with them!